An unexpected welcome
by Dellta0
Summary: Cardinal Copia has just been assigned to replace Papa Emeritus the third. Not only is he trying to deal with his new duties, but also some curious ghouls. A little too curious... (Pairings: Dewdrop/Cardinal Copia.. Aether/Cardinal Copia.. Aether/Dewdrop/Cardinal Copia/Rain.. threesome, foursome, two people relationships)


A gloved hand slowly turned the last page of a stack of papers on the dim lit desk. Yet another pile was waiting for him on the side, but he wasnt up for it. Not tonight. He was tired. Mentally as well as physically. It sure wasnt easy having to tackle the role as the new Papa... Well, technically, he wasnt the new Papa. He was just the new...well... the new one in charge. A sigh escaped the cardinal and he pushed away from the desk, deciding on leaving the rest of the paper work for the morning. It was a bit late anyway.

He stood and stretched, thoughts of the upcoming rituals spinning through his mind still. Perhaps he should read a book, or something. Try and take work off his mind for a bit. He doubted he would be able to sleep otherwise. He was confident he could handle his newly assigned job. It was just ... Papa Nihil doubting him. He would be lying if he said it didnt concern him. He sure didnt want to end up like Papa Emeritus the third, or his brothers... Another sigh escaped him and he was about to yawn when there was suddenly a knock on the door to his chambers. He flinched, having been totally unprepared for visitors at this time of the night. Who could it possibly be at this hour? Had something happened...?

Suddenly more awake, he steered fast steps towards the door and put his hand on the knob, hesitating for a moment before finally pushing it down. When he slowly opened it and peeked into the dark hallway outside, he was met with the face of a ghoul. He hadnt quite learned to discern the differences in their appearances just yet. He didnt know them very well either. However, their voices helped him keep track of who was who.

"Cardinal", the man greeted him and he nodded in return.

"Dewdrop?" he replied, hoping that he was right. He immediately regretted using that questioning tone of voice. If he had guessed right though, maybe he could get away with it as simply being a questioning of the ghoul's visit, and not of his name. From what he could tell, the man hadnt seemed to react to his reply in any way, and so he could relax a bit.

"Are you busy?" came a question suddenly, and Copia had to think about it for a moment. No, he wasnt busy...but...it was late and he sort of wanted to go to sleep.

"I am, unfortunately, my friend", he replied with an excusing expression on his tired face. "I have a date with my bed", he added, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards a tiny bit. It had been a bad attempt at a bad joke, but he couldnt take it back now. The ghoul watched him curiously.

"So...you dont want to hang out?" the younger man asked, tilting his head slightly to the left, eyes still fixed on the Cardinal's. Again, Copia gave him a sort of guilty look.

"No, I'm sorry, Dewdrop", he said and then started closing the door slowly. "Have a nice night." He didnt want to appear rude and slam it in his face. Sweet Satan. Didnt that ghoul have any nocturnal friends to play with at night?

As he made his way back through the office room, he started to unbutton his coat. On the way over to his bedroom, he snatched a book from the shelf and looked down at the cover. This one would have to do. Once inside the bedroom, he threw the book onto the silky, deep red covers on his bed and proceeded with gently removing and folding his coat. He put it aside on a chair and made himself comfortable on the bed. The words he was reading as he opened the book seemed to just register for a second and then disappear from his mind. As if he couldnt focus. It felt unusally hard to emerge himself in the text. Not a good enough distraction for tonight, huh? He sighed as thoughts of work invaded his mind yet again, chasing away anything and everything that had previously occupied it.

Another sigh escaped him and he put the book away, grabbing the bed covers to pull them over his head. He wondered what Papa Emeritus the third would have done in his situation. He laid there in silence, for what felt like an hour before finally falling asleep. At least he thought he had been asleep for a while. There was this sensation of having been blacked out for a moment. You'd think it would be easy to go back to sleep again. but no. No... Here he was, wide awake again. Typical. He also noted a feeling of hunger in his stomach. Perhaps if he got himself something to eat... Surely, that would take his mind off things.

He sat and elegantly swung his legs over the edge of the bed, realizing that he was still wearing his shoes when they connected with the floor. He didnt bother with grabbing the coat before exiting his chambers.

The hallways were dark and silent. A tiny bit chilly, but that was just fine by him. He walked on, humming quietly to himself and feeling more awake than ever. He passed a common room and then a wall of some portraits. They were ones of the three late Papas. A chill ran down his spine, as most other times when he passed this particular hallway. Subconsciously, he sped up his pace a bit.

When he finally arrived to the kitchen, he stopped dead in his tracks, thinking that he had heard footsteps from behind. When he turned around though, there was no one there. It was probably his sleep deprived mind playing tricks on him. Sigh. He carefully pushed the doors to the kitchen open and was a bit surprised to see yet another familiar face in there. Well, practically the same face really. He could tell that the ghoul was a rather soft mannered person and was proud to instantly recognize him.

"Rain", he greeted the man cheerfully as he stepped inside, causing the ghoul to tense up a bit.

"Sir", the young man greeted him back and instantly put his glass of water to his lips. He was watching the Cardinal move across the room to pick up an apple. Their eyes met for a moment and Copia gently threw the fruit a few inches into the air and catched it again with ease. He was just about to address him again when both of their attention were drawn to the door. It was Dewdrop again. The said ghoul entered casually and jumped to sit his bum on the counter next to Rain. Then his eyes traveled to Copia.

"I thought you were busy", the man pointed out, piercing the Cardinal's eyes with an intense gaze. Rain was now staring at Copia as well. The apple in his hand was squeezed lightly and his mouth opened a tiny bit. It closed again and then opened a second time.

"Uuh...I couldnt seem to fall asleep", he excused himself and took a bite out of the fruit. He wondered why Dewdrop was so keen on calling him out. Perhaps he was testing him. Testing his boundaries. Yes, that was probably it. Without waiting for an answer, Copia started moving towards the doors again, thinking that he should go for a walk. The fiery ghoul pushed himself off the counter and followed him. As did Rain when he realized that everyone was leaving. Copia didnt get a chance to even wonder why the two were stalking him before Dewdrop spoke, coming up next to him.

"I can show you around", he offered and recieved a raised eyebrow in return. This ghoul was just confusing Copia more and more. He could feel the intense gaze of both men on him as they walked on.

"You know, I'm not new to this place", he pointed out and chewed quietly.

"But you havent seen our quarters", Dewdrop insisted, not taking his eyes off the Cardinal, who gave him a sort of 'fair enough' look. They continued on in silence until they reached a big stairwell. The little ghoul was right. Copia hadnt actually been in these parts of the ministry. It had just never been necessary. Nor had it been linked to any of his previous duties in any way. He was slowly finishing his apple, letting Dewdrop take the lead up the stairs with Rain following them close behind. He couldnt imagine that there was anything for him to see up there, but as he didnt have anything better to do with his time at the moment, he might as well have a look. Also, he didnt want to be rude.

"This is where we used to hang out alot with Papa", Dewdrop made a gesture towards the common room at the top of the stairs. He then lead the way inside it. Copia took note of the bar at the left side of the room, as well as the fireplace further inside. Quite a cosy room.

"That's my spot", Dewdrop pointed at a certain, cosy looking chair close to the fireplace and then turned his head to look at Copia. "but you can sit there if you want", he continued with a slightly suggestive tone in his voice. "We can both sit there", he added, still locking eyes with Copia. The older man raised his eyebrows little.

"Sure..sure..", he replied and looked around for a trashcan. "That's very nice of you", he continued, oblivious to the intense gaze that the ghoul was holding him under.

"Ah", Copia spotted what he had been looking for and went over to the bar to throw the remains of his apple into the dustbin. When he turned around, both men were staring at him. Sort of like a couple of wolves watching their prey. Strange people, those ghouls...

"So...", he tried breaking the silence and awkwardness, but he didnt have to take responsibility for it for long, because Dewdrop was now moving towards him, beckoning for him to follow him as he passed him out into the hallway. A yawn escaped Rain as he too followed, just as curious about their new leader as his fellow ghoul was. They passed a couple of rooms before eventually stopping and entering one. It appeared to be a bedroom. It was dimly lit, which Copia liked. He always kept his bedroom that way, even in the daytime. It reminded him of the beauty sleep he should be having right now though, and he surpressed a yawn.

"How do you like my room?" Dewdrop asked as they stopped by the bed. Rain remained a little further back, tilting his head slightly to the side as he watched Copia curiously.

"It's...nice...", was the only thing the Cardinal could think of to say. He made a show of looking around the room before his gaze landed on Dewdrop again.

"What do you think of my bed?" he was asked then. It threw him off guard slightly. He couldnt really see how that was a relevant question. This Dew guy sure was an oddball, he concluded. Naturally, his gaze landed on said bed and he struggled to come up with anything interesting to say about it. Eventually though, he replied.

"Well...It's a...bed", he said the obvious, looking back to Dewdrop, wondering what strange questions might be coming next.

"Would you like to try it?" the ghoul asked, making a small gesture towards it. Copia realized that he must be looking really confused, and gathered himself a bit. He tried not to let this guy get under his skin. That was a really strange question. He must be trying to test him in some way... Maybe... He cleared his throat.

"Perhaps...another time", he replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable at this point. He took a step towards the door, trying to pass Dewdrop when the ghoul put his arm out to stop him.

"Why?" the man wanted to know, intense eyes staring back into his slightly distressed ones. He bit down on his tongue, the gears turning at full speed in his head. What did this guy want with him? What was his fucking deal? Copia decided on dropping the politeness and his gaze darkened as he glared at Dewdrop.

"Because I say so", he made clear, his voice a deep rumble. He didnt even blink as he challenged the man. The arm was still there. He wasnt one to turn to voilence, but...perhaps he would need to put this little ghoul in place.

"Dew!" a scolding voice came from the doorway suddenly, making Dewdrop drop his arm with a sigh to turn and face Aether. "Leave him alone", said ghoul ordered him. After a few seconds of hesitation, the man stepped aside to let Copia move pass him and towards the door. He was clearly annoyed by Aether's interference, watching in disappointment as the Cardinal left the room, disappearing out of sight.

Copia had already created a long distance between himself and the ghouls, hurrying back to his own quarters. He really needed to put that man in place, but as of right now, he was just pissed, confused and humiliated. He just really needed to sort his thoughts out. He wasnt sure of how he should interpret the missbehaving ghoul's intentions. At first, he was certain that he had just been provoking him, testing him and pushing his boundaries, but he wasnt so sure anymore. Which in turn made him uncomfortable...

When he finally reached his private quarters, he closed and locked the door behind him and poured himself a much needed glass of brandy. He knew he didnt enjoy drinking it raw like that, but at the time, he didnt really care. He downed it pretty quickly and shuddered before making a face of pure disgust. The glass was then put back onto the table, a little more harshly than intended. Dear Satan, what had he gotten himself into?

He started removing his shirt and shoes, as well as his pants, actually feeling tired now. That meant that he could give sleep another go. Hopefully, this time it would work. Right as he was about to head for the bedroom, a squeaky noise stopped him dead in his tracks and he settled his eyes on his work desk. A small, black rat was slinking through the piles of papers, only stopping when it reached the edge of the desk. It then proceeded with standing on its hind legs, sniffing the air in the direction of its owner.

"Ah...,Aim", he addressed the little animal, instantly feeling calmer. He approached the desk while removing his gloves and then let the rat climb into the palm of his hand. Its tiny feet were cold against his skin, but he didnt mind that. The rodent continued up his arm and onto his shoulder before settling down.

"It's nice to have a friend in this world", he spoke softly to it before deciding to head off to bed. He had even more thoughts and feelings to deal with now than before, but what could he do? Hopefully this time he would be able to sleep through the rest of the night

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Let me know if you want to read more of this. Thanks


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